South Africa scrum-half Ruan Pienaar has given Ulster a boost ahead of their
Heineken Cup opener against Leicester at Ravenhill on Friday by signing a
three-year contract extension.

The 29-year-old, who joined Ulster in 2010, had been linked with a move to Toulon but is now under contract at Ravenhill until 2017. He has played 63 games for the Northern Irish club, scoring 510 points.

“I am delighted to be staying at Ulster,” said Pienaar, who has been capped 71 times by the Springboks. “I have really enjoyed my first three seasons at the province and I am looking forward to helping the team compete for silverware in the coming years.”

Two seasons ago Pienaar helped Ulster to reach the Heineken Cup final in which they were heavily beaten by Leinster.

“To be successful, you need top-class players, therefore I am extremely pleased that Ruan, who is one of the best scrum-halves anywhere in the world, is extending his time with us,” Ulster director of rugby David Humphreys said. “The announcement of this contract will give everyone at Ulster Rugby – the players, the staff and the fans – a huge lift, especially as it had been wrongly reported that Ruan would be leaving us.”

New Zealand rugby league officials are seeking to confirm a report that former All Black Sonny Bill Williams has made himself available for the Kiwis’ World Cup defence.

Williams, who made a spectacular return to league with newly crowned National Rugby League champions Sydney Roosters this year, was left out of the Kiwis’ 24-man squad on Monday, apparently confirming rumours of an imminent return to the 15-man code.

The NZ league cited “other commitments” as the explanation for Williams’s absence but, according to The Sydney Morning Herald, the second-rower has had a change of heart and advised national coach Stephen Kearney that he is keen to end a six-year absence from the Kiwis team.

“I’ve seen the report and we’re still working our way through it,” New Zealand’s media manager Caley Wilson said. “I’m getting a mountain of calls on the subject but I can’t shed any light at the moment.”

If the report is true, the presence of one of the game’s leading players would provide a major boost to New Zealand’s title defence – and the tournament itself which starts in Cardiff on Oct 26.

Williams helped the All Blacks to win the World Cup in 2011 but has has yet to win with the Kiwis, having lost six and drawn one of his seven Tests so far.